Gaza Action Page

Gaza Update

(Last Updated: April 23)

The genocide in Occupied Palestine continues with US support and weaponry.  As many as 1,000,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah as Israel continued its brutal assault on the former safe zone for displaced Palestinians.  Aid deliveries to Rafah are being blocked by Israel, and NGOS active in Gaza now say that as a result of the Israeli attack on Rafah, people are facing deadly levels of dehydration or getting sick because they are being denied potable water and hygiene.   On Friday, May 24, the International Court of Justice ordered to halt its offensive there: Israel must “immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.”  Within 48 hours of the ICJ order, Israel bombed Rafah in 60 aerial blitzes.  On Sunday May 26, in one of those blitzes, Israeli forces killed 45 Palestinians by bombing a Gaza camp for displaced Palestinians.  In a designated ‘safe zone’ in Rafah, fire tore through tents, burning people alive, just two days after the ICJ ordered Israel to stop its assault.  On May 28, mass casualties were reported in an airstrike on another  site hosting internally displaced persons in the Al Mawasi area, southwest of Rafah. The Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza reported 21 fatalities and 64 injuries.  Representatives from Spain, Ireland, and Norway expressed their countries’ intent to recognize a Palestinian state, and the European Union considered whether to impose sanctions on Israel.

Between 7 October 2023 and 30 May 2024, at least 36,224 have been killed and at least 81,777 wounded in the Gaza Strip.  Thousands more are buried under the rubble.  At least 520 Palestinians have been killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.  Most of the victims are women and children.  With the United States still freezing UNRWA funds in the midst of genocide, famine, contaminated water supplies, a destroyed health care system and blocked aid deliveries, the UN agency says it has reached “breaking point” during a time of “unprecedented humanitarian needs in Gaza”.

I - To counteract the profound humanitarian crisis, an immediate permanent ceasefire is needed.  Aid to the devastated enclave, already one of the poorest and most oppressed in the world [link below left "Beginners' Guide"], must be allowed to flow freely.  Without a ceasefire, this is impossible.  And the only language that Israel may understand to agree to a ceasefire is for the US to stop weapons transfers to Israel as a number of our allies have done.

• Call upon your member of Congress and your Senators requesting that they support an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and ending the unconditional sale of weapons foir the genocide.  Win Without War,  AFSC  and UNRWA are some of the many organizations offering a template.  Then spread the word on social media.  

• On January 26, the International Court of Justice found a "plausible risk" that Israel is committing genocide.  It is imperative that the United States end its support for war crimes.  Military aid to Israel must stop until Israel fully complies with the ICJ directives to stop acts of genocide and to allow adequate aid into Gaza.  Change.org, MoveOn, and Code Pink are three organizations with petitions you can sign.

• Days after the ICJ ruling, Israel claimed that twelve of the 13,000 UNRWA aid workers had taken part in the October 7 attacks.   Reacting to Israel's allegation, the United States and several other countries suspended contributions to the agency that Palestinians have relied on for everything from vaccinations to education for seven decades.  Among many other peace organizations, Code Pink has a petition calling for restore UNRWA funding immediately.

• The unconditioned supply of offensive weapons to a nation conducting a text-book case of genocide must stop.  As the US continues to supply arms to the apartheid regime and to withhold aid from the most effective humanitarian aid group in Gaza, the tide is shifting among the populace of one of our most steadfast allies.   A poll conducted by YouGov found that 56 percent of UK voters are now in favor of a ban on the export of arms and spare parts, with 59 percent saying Israel was violating human rights in Gaza. [link below right, "For defenders of..."] 

• USCPR (US Campaign for Palestinian Rights) has an Activist Tool Kit for organizing against the use of US tax dollars to arm Israel and fund genocide.  Win Without War has a petition calling for stopping arms sales to Israel because of its violation of international law. MoveOn also has a petition calling for an end to arming Israel because of its killing of civilians.

II - Contribute to organizations and groups that are trying to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza even in the midst of the Israeli onslaught.  Here is a partial listing with links:

UNRWA (United Nations Relief Works Administration)

Doctors without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontiere)

AFSC (American Friends Service Committee)

Palestine Red Crescent Society 

International Rescue Committee

Amnesty International

Oxfam

III - Take action to demand an immediate ceasefire, an end to unconditioned arms sales to Israel and justice for Palestinians throughout Occupied Palestine.

• Protests are ongoing across the world demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.  Various groups are organizing local events, most prominently CodePink, AFSC , Jewish Voice for Peace, and the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights.  Participate in these events to help put an end to the genocide.

• Code Pink has an ongoing operation to talk to Senators and Congressmembers about stopping the genocide.  You can find details here.

• USCPR (US Committee for Palestinian Rights) has a petition to Congress to prevent the massacre that will ensue if Israel carries out its invasion of Rafah and a Stop Gaza Genocide: Ceasefire Now! Toolkit  They also have a petition to "End the Ongoing Nakba and End the Genocide".

• The House of Representatives is inviting war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu to speak.  Win Without War has a petition to Senate Majority Leader Schumer requesting that the Senate not do the same.

• Congress is considering sanctions against the ICC because of the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his defense minister. Win Without War, among others, has a petition calling on Biden to resist this Trump-era action on officials of an organization built to bring justice to victims of atrocities like genocide, rape as a weapon of war, and war crimes. 

• The Tents Massacre of May 26, two days after the ICJ ordered Israel to cease its assault on Rafah, declared to all the world the utter mockery Israel has made of international and humanitarian law.  Win without War has a petition asking President Biden to join the rest of the world in condemning the atrocity, suspending military aid to Israel, and ending support for this horrific war.

• Israeli apartheid, violations of international law, and human rights abuses have taken a toll on Palestinians throughout the Occupied Territories.  Even before the relentless bombardment and ground invasion, residents of Gaza ("the world's largest open air prison") faced an even greater level of oppression and suffering thanks to the 16-year-long airtight land sea and air blockade - a war crime in itself as a form of collective punishment.  The post below right (Americans need to know...) is four years old but it gives a picture of daily life in Gaza never shown to the American public.

IV - Stay informed on the reality of the Occupation, the Blockade, Israeli apartheid, and the current assault on Gaza. 

• For the most part, US mainstream media are biased in their coverage of the situation in Occupied Palestine and tolerant of (or insensitive to) the decades of human rights abuses inflicted on Palestinians.  Israel has maintained its apartheid system in large part because American politicians from both parties allow it.  The JVP post below left summarizes the year leading up to the October 7 attack.   

• Four news sources that give a more accurate view of the situation in Occupied Palestine:

Democracy Now!

Al Jazeera  

The Intercept

Informed Comment

V - To counteract the influence of the Israel Lobby and thwart AIPAC's determination to bring down anyone who stands up for Palestinian human rights, contribute to the campaigns of those courageous Democrats who do so.

• The primary defenders of Palestinian human rights and critics of Israeli war crimes and violations of international law are the Justice Democrats - you can contribute here.   Republican megadonors and the Israel Lobby are pouring in hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat Summer Lee, a representative from western Pennsylvania, in Pennsylvania's April 23 primary.  This will be the first serious test of the Israel lobby's $100 million campaign to defeat progressives calling for a ceasefire and an end to the war on Gaza.

• There are 18 House co-sponsors of the resolution for a ceasefire.  They are listed here.  As of Dec 4, 55 members of the House and four Senators have called for a ceasefire. A Data for Progress poll showed 61 percent of voters nationwide supported a permanent ceasefire.  

• AIPAC is getting ready to spend $100 million in the 2024 primaries to unseat Justice Democrats,  "the few who believe in Palestinian human rights & a ceasefire that most Americans already support."  With less than one month to go until the New York general election primary, millions of dollars being spent by AIPAC’s right-wing megadonor-funded network to unseat Jamaal Bowman, the most vulnerable of the Justice Democrats. Jamaal does not take corporate money and is currently being outspent 20 to 1.   You can donate to Jamaal Bowman's campaign here.

• Summer Lee's primary on April 23 is the first pressure test in a series of Democratic primaries in the coming months in which wealthy Republican donors, the Israel Lobby and corporate Democrats are focused on defeating fellow Squad members including Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Cori Bush of Missouri and Jamaal Bowman of New York.  You can contribute to these courageous progressives at the Justice Democrats website. 

• Do NOT contribute to any of the 22 House Democrats who voted to censure Rashida Tlaib.  All but one have accepted Israel Lobby money. Details in this link.

• DO contribute to the Senators who voted in support of Bernie Sanders' resolution asking the State Department whether human rights violations may have occurred using U.S. equipment or assistance in this war.  Just eleven Senators voted for the resolution: Sanders,  Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Democrats Laphonza Butler of California, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Mazie Hirano of Hawaii, Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, Jeff Merkley of Oregon, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Peter Welch of Vermont.